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Zira/Main article
Zira is a lioness who was the leader of the Outsiders, and the mother of Nuka, Vitani, and Kovu. She was the main antagonist in The Lion King II: Simba's Pride. Physical Attributes Zira has pale tanish-brown fur with a darker brown stripe running down her face and stopping between her eyes, a cream chest, blood red eyes in The Lion King II (although in the Disney books, she is shown to have blue eyes), and a notch in her right ear. Her ears also feature two unnoticable thin black strips. Like Scar, she is thin (due to possible malnutrition or her genetic makeup), and her claws are visible on her paws. Personality Zira is shown to be fiercely protective of things or titles she views as important, as she is shown hovering of Kovu when Simba, a much bigger lion, roars at her son and when Nuka reacts in disgust at the mention of Scar. She is extremely vengeful, willing to manipulate a cub into wanting Simba dead and then attempting to do it herself when Kovu refuses. Zira holds firm to her methods, opting to destroy whatever gets in her way as she threatens Vitani with death for her betrayal despite Vitani being her own daughter. This also shows she views unimportant things as expendable. Zira is very vocal with her beliefs as well, telling Simba straight to his face the lands belong to Scar and the throne rightfully belongs to Kovu. She is violent and merciless, proven in her song "My Lullaby". Despite her age, she is shown to be extremely powerful as seen in battle when she knocks Simba over with a single swipe. Even when Zira's lionesses abandon her, she is not swayed to give up, leaping at Simba and refusing Kiara's offered aid which ultimately leads to her death. The Lion King II: Simba's Pride Kovu becomes affectionate with Simba's daughter, Kiara, after the two cubs escape from crocodiles in between the borders of the Outlands and the Pridelands. Simba and Zira clash over this, but the two leave without fighting. Zira plots to train Kovu so he can easily kill Simba at the right moment through singing "My Lullaby". Years pass and when Kovu becomes a full grown adult, she inspects him to know that he is fully ready to complete Scar's dying wish for him to become king. Once, Kovu saves Kiara from a fire of Nuka and Vitani's own making, he is allowed to enter the Pridelands by Simba so he could get closer to Kiara and in turn, Simba. Then, when Simba was alone, Kovu would kill him as she explains this to Nuka. The plan works successfully, but, after Kovu experiences "Upendi", Zira is informed by her daughter Vitani that Kovu did not kill Simba when he was alone. Kovu's action causes Zira to think he may have betrayed them so she plans an ambush on Simba while he is with Kovu. Simba falls into a gorge during the ensuing fight, but escapes via a log dam piled up against one end of the gorge. The logs fall and crush Nuka, killing him. Zira pauses to mourn her son's demise, asking Scar to watch over Nuka for her, but she very quickly takes her anger out on Kovu, giving him a scar identical to Scar's. Kovu, defiant for the first time, flees for the Pride Lands as Zira declares war on Simba. Zira rallies her lionesses and they travel to the Pride Lands for the final battle. At the battle's climax, Simba and Zira are about to fight each other when Kiara and Kovu intervene and stop the battle before it can begin, convincing the Outlanders and the Pridelanders that "they are one." Vitani is the first to realize this and switch sides. Zira threatens to kill Vitani if she doesn't come back, disgusting the other lionesses, who subsequently abandon her. Enraged, Zira charges at Simba, stating that "this is for you, Scar." Kiara leaps into Zira's path, causing Zira to knock Kiara and herself off the edge of a nearby cliff, sending them both tumbling into the gorge. Kiara lands safely on a ledge, but Zira slides off the edge and hangs precariously onto it. Kiara makes an attempt to rescue Zira, but Zira swipes at her, rejecting help. Zira, having rejected aid, slips and falls into the river below and drowns. Kovu silently mourns the death of his mother. Songs *My Lullaby Trivia *The notch in Zira's right ear occasionally changes sides during the movie. *In an alternate scene that survived to the rough animation stage, Kiara offers Zira aid, but Zira, with a twisted grin, replies "No, Never." and releases her claws from the cliff, falling into the swollen river below thus committing suicide. This was considered too dark for a Disney film and was cut. *In a deleted scene from The Lion King II: Simba's Pride titled "Nuka and Vitani's News" found on YouTube, Zira mentions that she was Scar's "loving, devoted queen" indicating that during early production of the film, Zira was written to have had a romantic relationship with Scar before this scene was cut. Lion King- Cut scene 3- Nuka and Vitani's News *Zira's original name was Bianca, but the producers changed it to Zira. *Interestingly, in a brief scene during "My Lullaby", Zira is seen with blue eyes, and not red. *On a Disney website, Zira is described as Scar's sister. Whether or not this is true or a mistake, it's unknown. Quotes Gallery The-Lion-King-2-the-lion-king-2-simbas-pride-4639796-850-504.jpg|Zira watching Kovu interact with Kiara The-Lion-King-2-the-lion-king-2-simbas-pride-4639932-850-504.jpg|Zira protecting Kovu File:17777.png|Zira smirks at Kiara after subtly threatening Simba 17831.png|Zira compares Kovu's mind to Scar's sp07_049.JPG|Zira's anger towards Nuka My Lullaby34.png|"Tomorrow, your training intensifies" a.png|"...with a lust for being bad!" File:Sppic31.jpg Zira_Looks_on.png Zira.png Zira and vitani.jpg|Zira with Vitani behind her 25.jpg|Zira as she appears in the official SP comic Zirabook.png|Zira as she appears in a Simba's Pride book References Category:Characters Category:Outsiders Category:Female Characters Category:Deceased Characters Category:Antagonists Category:Lionesses